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Money, Medals, And Championships: Politically Driven Conspiracy Of Silence, Model Development; Implications To Diversity And Inclusion., Ania Izabela Rynerzewska

AMTP Proceedings 2022

Athletic organizational image and reputation management often require careful consideration of values shared and enacted to create a flawless image with which many fans identify and often admire. However, under the cover of perfect brand image covered with medals, championship and glory, there is often a hidden world of abuse and active participation in silencing the victims to protect the image. This paper analyzes relatively recent cases of two sex scandals in sports: Jerry Sandusky case and Larry Nassar case. Both individuals held higher positions within their organizations’ network of supporters who participated in a conspiracy of silence. This paper …

Eagle Executive Magazine, Georgia Southern University

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Undergraduate Catalog, Georgia Southern University

Undergraduate & Graduate Catalogs

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Counterstories Of High School Black Males And Their Experiences Of The Mainstream Curricula, Kayla Turner

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

This is an inquiry into the experiences Black males have with the current high school curricula. Theoretically drawing on critical race theory (Bell, 1992; Delgado, 1995; Dixson & Rousseau, 2006; Ladson-Billings, 2009; Solórzano & Yosso, 2001, 2004), I explore how high school Black males’ suggestions and ideas can be used to shift the current curricula to a curricula that is more culturally sustaining. I challenge deficit research on Black male learners by focusing on the educational successes of Black males. Methodologically, I utilize counterstorytelling (Delgado, 2017; Solórzano & Yosso, 2002) to illustrate the experiences of three academically successful high school …

Stress, Stress Appraisal And Coping In Athletic Trainers During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Lawson Holton

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

Introduction: There have been many studies conducted on the stress and mental health of frontline healthcare workers (HCWs) over the past months since the COVID-19 pandemic began. Very limited literature has examined the effect of the pandemic on athletic trainers (ATs). Objective: The aim of this investigation was to examine the stress, stress appraisal, and coping measures of ATs during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: Participants were recruited members from the National Athletic Trainers’ Association (NATA). The Perceived Stress Scale-10 was used to measure stress, the Stress Appraisal Measure was used to measure stress appraisal, and the Brief COPE was used …

American Performance: Artistic Experience And The American Dream, Savannah M. Barrow

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

The American Dream was first epitomized by Benjamin Franklin in his Autobiography (1791), in which he instructs his fellow citizens on how to procure the American promises of social mobility and economic prosperity. However, the moral and social performances reinforced by Franklin’s recipe-for-success promote an ideological system that prevents marginalized communities such as women, immigrants, and people of color, from procuring the Dream’s most foundational features. Inequitable access to the Dream is a theme revisited throughout American literature, wherein disenfranchised characters consume the aspirational narrative of American social mobility through art, media, and propaganda. This essay tracks the representation of …

The Perspective Of Riverkeepers And Environmental Groups On Poor Water Quality In Georgia, Jacob A. Crawford

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

Riverkeepers and environmental groups currently face the complex task of defending watersheds. In Georgia, these efforts are complicated by the vast geographical and racial diversity within the state. This study examined the riverkeepers and environmental groups need to improve advocacy abilities to defend communities they serve from poor water quality, what communities in Georgia are being impacted by poor water quality, what disconnects exist between riverkeepers, environmental groups, and governmental agencies, and how COVID-19 has challenged the riverkeepers and environmental groups. Using qualitative interviews with eleven riverkeepers and environmentalists, the findings suggest that collaboration with riverkeepers, enforcement of current policy, …

A Secondary Data Analysis Exploring The Impacts Of Synchronous And Asynchronous Sexual Assault Bystander Intervention Training: A Pilot Study, Jacquelyn A. Mesenbrink

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

Campus sexual assault has been recognized as one of the most pressing issues on college campuses and an epidemic across the U.S. The purpose of this study is to explore perceived prosocial behavior change of one bystander intervention training in two different modalities: synchronous virtual via Zoom and asynchronous online training via a learning management system (LMS). To date, there is no research study that evaluates the same bystander intervention program across different intervention delivery modalities. This research is the first of its kind to examine the relationship between intervention delivery modality and post-evaluation questions and serves as a pilot …

Perplexions: Perceptions, Plexi And Prose, Amy B. Nelson

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

An understanding of our world is unique to each individual and their experiences. While experiences are often shared, we all process them according to our own schema. Through exploration into the multiple facets of plexiglass, my work examines trauma, loss and its lasting effect on a person's memory of the past, present and perception of the future. These experiences can cause an abrupt shift in personal schema and reshape one’s perception of the world. Through the combination of visual and linguistic stimuli, my trauma-informed work can be a catalyst for my viewers to discuss what they are experiencing and why. …

Social Media Use And Loneliness During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Katelyn Hughes

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

Social media has played a prominent role in society as a safe way of communicating and connecting with friends, family, and others during the time of the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020. This study examined the general use of social media over the time of the COVID-19 pandemic and correlations with levels of loneliness, depression, anxiety, and stress in comparison to how people felt about their social media use before the pandemic. This study collected self-reported introspection on social media use during the pandemic and before the pandemic from Georgia Southern University students to compare if there are less feelings of …

A Different World: The Experiences Of Black Women At A Southern Predominantly White Institution, Latoya Stackhouse

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

The present study investigated the lived experiences of Black women on a predominantly White institution (PWI) campus in the South as they relate to the core themes of Patricia Hill Collins’ Black Feminist Thought (BFT). The core themes of BFT that were the focus of the research were Self-Definition/Empowerment, Safe Space, Controlling Images, Invisibility/Sense of Belonging. Sista circle methodology was used as the form of inquiry with two 60-minute sessions over a two-month span. This methodology was chosen because its focus centers the lived narratives of Black women within a safe space unlike traditional focus groups. Findings from the sista …

Economic Aesthetics, Ashrafi Sultana

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

Contemporary socio-economic reality is like a robbery, where the wealthy people have all the money, and the workers live from hand to mouth. These systematic inequalities are happening through capitalist consumerism and creating a growing economic contrast globally. Rather than considering imitative freedom promoted by the mainstream media that drives us to power, greed, or ego-centric mentality, I believe human rights can direct us to real freedom. In current society, basic rights are being taken away from many, while a great number of us are trapped in our utopian reality without recognizing the truth. We are stimulated by our socio-economic …

Examining Practitioners’ Perspectives On Access To Professional Psychological Help For Division I Male Athletes, Nicole Vana

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

Male athletes are less likely than female athletes to seek out support services (Barnard, 2016) despite experiencing a myriad of clinical and subclinical concerns including depression (Davoren & Hwang, 2014; Wolanin et al., 2016), anxiety (Davoren & Hwang, 2014), eating disorders (Joy et al., 2016; Sundgot-Borgen & Torstveit, 2004), and substance use (NCAA, 2018). To combat the increasing rates of mental health concerns, support services are becoming more readily available for collegiate athletes (Moore, 2016). However, despite the recent effort in increasing athlete mental health support, many male athletes in particular remain reluctant to seek out such services (Barnard, 2016). …

The Influence Of Faculty Peer Network Communication In The Diffusion Of A Centralized Cure, Nicole L. Scheuermann

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

Course-based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs) provide students the benefits of undergraduate research participation by incorporating authentic scientific research into laboratory courses. CUREs are a relatively young pedagogy and are therefore innovative. Roger’s (2003) diffusion of innovations (DOI) framework posits that the diffusion of innovations, such as CUREs, is a highly social process. Most existing CURE research has focused on the impacts to students and the critical elements of CURE design. Investigation into instructor peer network communication is largely absent from the existing CURE literature. This study investigates the structure and function of a CURE community – the Malate Dehydrogenase CURE …

Culture For Sale, Jessica L. Cartwright

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

In a post-colonial world, one would expect much of the servitude of the past to have ended, but this is not the case. In places such as the Bahamas new forms of or neo- colonialism has come to exist specifically under the guise of tourism. Writing amidst the end of colonialism in the twentieth century, Franz Fanon argues that sblack person exists in a liminal state. They must assimilate to the white society in order to be accepted, but not so much so thatbecause that it threatens whiteness. It is through Fanon’s writing on race that I have developed a …

The Relationship Between Physical Mobility And Firefighter Occupational Task Performance, Shelby Harbison

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

BACKGROUND: Firefighters work in a dangerous profession with high injury rates. Mobility dysfunction in firefighters may impact performance and contribute to injury. The Functional Movement Screen (FMS) is commonly used to evaluate individuals for mobility dysfunction and compensatory movements. PURPOSE: Identify if mobility is related to firefighters’ occupational task performance. METHODS: This was a retrospective study assessing 29 career firefighters using FMS and occupational performance task scores. Statistical analyses consisted of a multiple linear regression assessing predictors on the occupational task performance and 21 point-biserial correlations ran to assess the relationship between each individual predictor and occupational task performance. RESULTS: …

Toward Novel Optical Functionalities Through Intelligent Photonic Structure Design, Robert J. Williamson

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

Photonic Metamaterials is a branch of electromagnetism that has been of great interest in recent years. This is further enhanced by the introduction of micro- and nanofabrication methods capable of producing metamaterial structures with which it is possible to create specific optical phenomena. The study of iso-frequency k-surfaces is of importance when discussing optical interactions with media. Previous research found evidence of materials exhibiting k-surfaces of bi-hyperbolic nature, though they failed to find any further hyperboloid dispersions. In this thesis we describe the k-surface topologies and including tri- and tetra-hyperbolic as well as analyze the polariton-interactions that cause these hyperbolic …

The Synthesis And Biocatalytic Reduction Of Beta-Keto Alkynes, Rhema M. Francis

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

The preparation of enantiopure homopropargyl alcohols (but-3-yn-ols) is of high importance to the scientific community. They are employed as valuable pharmaceutical intermediates and are opportune to generate antiviral nucleoside analogues. Chiral inducement of these molecules thus far has been poor (low ee) and has constituted a key challenge for asymmetric synthesis in the last few decades. Enzyme-catalyzed enantioselective reductions of ketones have become popular to produce thus-prepared synthons on an industrial scale. Among them, biocatalysts (dehydrogenases, reductases) emerge as a biodegradable option for chemical transformations, in comparison to chiral catalysts that employ highly toxic metals. This research investigates the catalytic …

Structural And Functional Characterization Of Two Poly(Aspartic Acid) Hydrolases, Amanda Jansch

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

Due to the accumulation of polymers in the environment, biodegradable alternatives should be used in place of commonly used polymers like poly(carboxylates). Poly(carboxylates) are water-soluble polymers (WSPs) that make up a variety of consumer products, such as detergents, descaling agents, and superabsorbent materials commonly found in diapers and feminine hygiene products. While the visible accumulation of these products may not be obvious, it is necessary to reduce the amount entering the environment. Poly(aspartic acid) (PAA) is an alternative WSP that is biodegradable through the action of three different enzymes, PahZ1_KT-1, PahZ2_KT-1, and PahZ1_KP-2. Originally …

Barriers To Musculoskeletal Injury Reporting In High School Athletes: A Qualitative Study, Mikayla Talak

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

INTRODUCTION: There are a substantial amount of sport related injuries recorded at the high school age and it has been recorded as a public health concern in a vast amount of health literature. Although participating in sports has a risk of injury associated with it, it is common for high school athletes to underreport injuries. But there is no known literature on injury reporting behaviors of musculoskeletal injuries in the high school athletic population. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to explore the barriers and facilitators to musculoskeletal injury reporting and towards playing injured in athletes that attend a …

Synthesis Of Functionalized Aromatic Heterocyclic Compounds And Its Applications In Organized Self-Assemblies, Emmanuel T. Fasusi

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

1,2,3-triazoles due to their structure, possess good optical properties and are capable of molecular recognition by their supramolecular capabilities of utilizing weak forces of interaction (such as hydrogen bonding, dipole interaction) in establishing a close association with targets. They are easy to synthesize, which opened the opportunity for a wide pharmaceutical application, mostly as pharmacological scaffolds. However, challenges such as poor water solubility, inefficient drug delivery and increased toxicities due to frequent dosing of drugs are commonly faced which reduces the efficacy of the drugs. It is therefore important to have “delivery vehicles” which could help transport the drugs to …

Gender Identity, Sexual Orientation, And Mood Disorder Symptoms: The Moderating Role Of Parent-Child Religious Congruence, Jasmine Swann

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

This study sought to understand the factors related to increased symptoms of stress, anxiety, and depression among Sexual and Gender Minority (SGM) individuals. It is common for religious beliefs and Sexual and Gender minority ideals to clash. In the case of parent-child relationships, it is important to determine how the congruence of beliefs between parent and child may moderate mood disorder symptoms. A convenience sample of 271 individuals (46.5% identifying as a Gender and/or Sexual minority) completed an online survey. Participants provided information about their religious congruence with their closest parental or guardian figure and completed measures of current depression, …

License Plate Image Quality Enhancement Utilizing Super Resolution Generative Adversarial Networks, Mark Moelter

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

This thesis focuses primarily on enhancing the image quality of blurred license plates through the use of Super-Resolution Generative Adversarial Networks (SRGANs) [1]. We propose a synthetic dataset with SRGAN model to promote blurred image quality enhancement, and allow for model evaluation on a multitude of image input and output size combinations. SRGAN is mainly used for low-resolution image enhancement, but by heavily blurring the input images, the model is tested on its ability to blindly deblur and upsample images to the desired super-resolution (SR) size. The model enhances the image quality to nearly that of the reference images. The …

Highway Stormwater Runoff On-Site Treatment Using Bioslope With New Media Of Biochar Amended Topsoils, Ahmed I. Yunus

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) has constructed various treatment facilities on its right-of-way (ROW) to collect and treat highway stormwater runoff, emphasizing total suspended solids (TSS) removal. The permit performance goal set by the Georgia Environmental Protection Division (EPD) is 80% TSS removal. Current stormwater best management practice (BMP) treatment facilities include complex and permanent infrastructures such as bioslope, bioretention basins, sand filters, infiltration trenches, and grass channels. Among these BMPs, bioslope has been becoming more popular due to its applicability for roadway embankments and areas with limited ROW constraints. It removes pollutants effectively by physical filtration and chemical adsorption …

Hyphenated Identity And Negotiated Intersectionality: A Memoir Of A First-Generation Nigerian-American Male Teacher In An Inner City Title 1 Elementary School In Georgia, Gerald Chidiebere Nwachukwu

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

This dissertation is a memoir where I tell my stories of negotiating cultures, races, ethnicities, and identities in Nigeria, and in the United States as a first-generation Nigeria American teacher in an inner-city elementary school in Georgia. As a labeled African American upon entry into the United States, I did not understand the meaning of being Black because everybody in Nigeria is Black. In becoming Black, I became racialized, marginalized, and lumped into the African American ethnicity. I was rejected for not being Black enough in the United States nor Nigerian enough in Nigeria. Theoretically, I draw upon a wide …

A Form Of Our Own: An Examination Of Black Sonnet-Samplers, Lavonna D. Wright

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

This study responds to the need for understanding and terminology regarding Black poets’ engagement with the sonnet form. Referring to sampling strategies in Hip-Hop to analyze Black sonnets, this study disputes limiting ideas about sonnets as ineffective mediums to portray Black narratives and honors strategies maintained in Hip-Hop culture that define Black narrative expression, resistance to assimilation, and social reflection. Black sonnets are an ever-evolving vehicle of resistance to elitist ideas about traditional forms, Black aesthetics, and the ways that poetic strategies can be defined. This study names past and present Black sonneteers’ adherence to, remixing in, and rejection of …

Sexual Minority Stress And Mental Health: An Investigation Of Rural-Urban Differences In Social Support, Justin T. Miller

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

As mental health disparities and discrimination facing the LGB (sexual minority) community continues to come into public focus, researchers and clinicians are moving toward identifying LGB-specific mental health interventions to support well-being efforts within this population. Furthermore, much of the current literature on sexual minority mental health is focused on predominantly urban samples failing to consider the sociocultural impacts of living in low resourced and geographically isolated regions of the United States (US). To this end, social support is a promising prevention factor, but few studies to date examine its influence on different minority stress models. As such, the current …

Speculative Essays On Neoliberalism In Education: Dreams Of Resistance And Action For A More Socially Just Future, Lindsey Crumley

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

The way in which teachers are educated has wide reaching impacts on the ways students in their classrooms are educated. When test scores are regarded as the sole marker of a good teacher, then critical pedagogies and theories are left out of teacher education spaces. This dissertation aims to discuss a multitude of issues, both structural and day-to-day, that plague both education as a whole and teacher education specifically. Additionally, this dissertation aims to show ways in which communities, teacher educators, students, and schools are acting in resistance to the forms of control seen in education. This dissertation will use …

Neosublime, Reframing The Philosophical, Kathy Varadi

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

Why have the sunsets and sunrises become so amazingly colorful and awe inspiring recently? Eighteenth century philosophers said such events were examples of the sublime. They defined the sublime as that which is the most absolutely great combined with an underlying element of fear usually caused by the actions of God. This infers that the sublime is something that you can’t fully understand or wrap your head around and leaves you speechless and spell bound. Contemporary art critics say that the sublime is no longer applicable to art because it has been overused. I disagree, and in my art, I …

Becoming A Public Health Professional: Millennials’ Perspective On Organizational Assimilation And Professional Identity, Tony K. Winters

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

ABSTRACT

Public health must confront the ongoing challenge of workforce transitions and the impending exodus of existing employees. The millennial generation rises as an option to fill this workforce gap. Using the Socialization Resource Theory as a framework and qualitative data from in-depth interviews with 27 millennial professionals from federal, state, local, and non-governmental public health agencies, this study describes (a) the organizational assimilation (OA) process for millennial public health professionals, (b) explores the impact of OA on professional identity, and (c) describes how the OA process may impact the retention of public health professionals.

The results from this study …